The name of the man (we’ll call him a man because he was a man, even if he was not an earth man) was Rune. Rune had studied stones and rocks and ores and all manner of stone-like things since he was old enough to fly his first cruiser (on his planet this was at the tender age of ten). Therefore, when he wandered out of his lab one sunny morning to find a rock saying the phrase, “now what?” to him, he was perfectly at ease with the situation.

Of course this wasn’t a particularly ordinary thing for a rock to say, but it wasn’t extremely unordinary either. Rune had heard rocks say stranger things three other times in his life. The first had said, “I fancy yellow birds on Tuesdays but pink giraffes on Fridays, don’t you agree?” The second had said, “What sort of box do you think a planet would like for his birthday?” The third had said something so utterly obscene that an entire race of rather sensitive species died off.

Most rocks stuck to the basics like “Where am I?”, “What’s my purpose?”, and “I’d like a side of fries please.”

Not this one. This one had said, simply, “now what?”

It was a jolly good question, Rune thought, but then again, he often thought the things that rocks said were downright brilliant. It had to do with his acute case of SSS.

SSS is a widely spread syndrome that has billions of diagnosed cases throughout the universe. If you haven’t heard of it, it is probably because you are a wholly unenlightened person with your head in the sand. Or stuck up somewhere else.

In fact, SSS has been a known syndrome for over thirteen and a half million years, after the great planet of Psychbalottic Six joined the Universal Galactic Health Region. The inhabitants of Pscyhbalottic Six discover a lot of syndromes, in fact they have a record of discovering at least four new sydromes a day. They are a little behind on cures, however, but they do promise to start finding cures once they’ve discovered every syndrome possible. No point finding cures when there are still undiagnosed patients out there, or so they say.

SSS, as defined by the Universal Galactic Health Region, is as follows:

Second Son Syndrome. Prevalent in almost every family with two sons, most especially when the culture is favoured toward the eldest son. Inescapable, it is contracted when the second son is born. Symptoms increase in cases of twins, or a very short time between births. Symptoms include an inability to outperform the older brother in anything (this includes sports, smarts, love, arts, etc.), less attractive physical features, random clumsiness, and bad karma. People suffering from SSS often still try to perform complicated tasks, but they are better suited for a life full of settling for that low-level job, that ugly girl, and that beat up car. Their mothers are correct when they say, “You’ll never live up to your brother.”

Rune, having a severe case of SSS being that he was the younger twin of his elder brother, really had no hope in a successful journey.

Nevermind that he was on the journey at the bequest of a rock.

But he was certain he had calculated the origin of the rock correctly and this gave him a false sense of accomplishment and purpose. SSS should have told him that any sense of accomplishment will soon be trampled into the ground by a sound defeat, but he chose to ignore common sense and plod on. The planet he was headed for was none other than the planet earth and he was scheduled to arrive at precisely one minute before the Vogons blew it to smithereens.

My writing, first and foremost, I believe is a gift from God. I believe that these are his stories that he graciously shares with me so that I can tell them. I don’t for a second believe they are mine.

I also believe the purpose of these stories is to share them. I think that even if one person reads them and finds meaning then that is worth all of the effort.

I am dedicated to high standards in my work, however, and believe that pursuing and enhancing my gift is my responsibility.

So what am I trying to say?

What I’m trying to say is that I do believe my stories are good enough to be published by conventional means, but I’m not so sure that’s how they are meant to be shared.

I’ve had such a blast sharing my short story with you here on this blog. And I am always glad when someone tells me they got something out of what I wrote – it helped them, it moved them – anything.

I also love having complete editorial control over my work. I like being able to tell the story I need to tell without worrying if it will “sell”. Instead I just worry about the integrity and the truth of the story.

So, here’s what I’ve been really praying about and thinking about and leaning towards lately and I want to hear from you on. I have been considering using a service like Lulu to share my work with you! Instead of this service costing thousands (like many other services) it is very affordable and easy and still gives me (and you) the opportunity to hold my book in your hands.

Rest assured I would be still taking my time on projects to ensure the best quality and I would still do my best to market each individual title, as I have done with my first release, Two Small Stones, but this way I would not have to wait years for a publisher to pick me up. I would definitely make sure my manuscripts were professionally edited and completely ready to go before rushing to get it out there.

Working this way could be our own little community, which I love the idea of. I don’t need millions of fans. I just need a small few who appreciate my work and want to support me.

So what do you think?

I’m not giving up on my work by doing this. Like I said I do believe my work is publishable in the conventional world. But in the meantime I don’t want to sit in the shadows.

Another side to this decision would be that I find it very hard to be motivated to work on my projects when a publisher seems so very far away. I hate that feeling. I want to continue to enjoy my work and explore new facets of creativity.

In the end I believe that if I am meant to find a publisher, I will. But right now I don’t feel like that’s part of my calling. Right now every time I think about my writing all I feel is that I need to share it. And I feel like Lulu could be a great way to do this.

It sort of fits with the very quote I have affixed to the bottom of my computer screen:

“The vocation of the story teller is not to worry about the expectations of the world, but to bear the pain of redemption.” - Madeleine L’Engle

I wanted to give you all an update on my work… and maybe say a little something about my dislike of this question.

After MUCH deliberation I’ve decided to shelve my young adult trilogy for a while. There is a lot of work that needs to go into it before I feel it will be ready for publication and I don’t feel like the timing is right for that particular story to be told. I have begun the long and tiresome process of some pretty extensive re-writes on it, but nothing feels too concrete or right yet. I realize a few of you were very supportive and helpful in the formation of those three books and I’m very thankful for that, but as of this point in time I feel like they need to be put on the back burner. This doesn’t mean I’ll never return to them, it simply means they’ve gone as far as they can go at the moment, and sadly that’s not far enough.

I still have a number of other projects I’m working on, and I will continue to work on them and eventually send some more things out to publishers. Right now I feel like I really need to take my time and wait until the story is ready to be sent out rather than rushing just so I can send something out – to have something to say when people ask me “how’s the writing?”

I’m exciting to dedicating myself to the highest possible standards and hope that in the end this will pay off a lot better than just sending something out as soon as it’s done. I hope you’ll all appreciate the time and effort I put into the writing, and that you’ll notice the quality of it when the next book finally does hit the shelves!

This kind of concentration and dedication to high standards takes a lot of work and time. Time that I do not have in bundles of anymore. While I wasn’t working I was able to spend a good 5 to 8 hours a day on my writing. That just isn’t plausible anymore, and while I look forward to being able to do that again one day, I am also realistic. I am very blessed to have another job to supplement my income, so this is not at all a gripe at the time I do not get to spend, merely a statement of the way things are. So, please, in your support of my writing, realize this is a slow business and we all (readers and writers alike) need patience. I am working, if only bit by bit, and one day there will be another book out there for you to read.

Until then I will continue to give my loyal readers their fiction fix via my blog! I am actually very excited about that feature of this blog. It gives me a chance to supply my reading base with a little bit of my writing, but it is pressure-free. I realize that some of my story lines may not get to be as complex as they would in a non blog type of story, but I think it is important to continue to have my writing out there. I am hoping that more and more people will follow my online stories and hopefully get excited about what is to come. That way when I do have another book to present I’ll have a lot of interest generated.

I don’t like the idea of going off for a few years to write a new book while my readers lose interest. I want to keep you guys on the inside, and hopefully, keep you entertained as I pursue my craft.

That, in a nutshell, is how the writing is going.

If you can help it, please refrain from asking me this question every time you see me! How’s it going? Its going. I’m always working, and when there is something big to report, I’ll let you know. It is very frustrating being asked for a status report all the time, when in this business there is very little status to update. I know you care, and I’m glad! But being asked this question all the time is a bit disheartening because it is almost like being asked, “So what have you done of worth lately?” My work is hard to quantify, and in a world that likes to measure things, it is hard to be someone that doesn’t produce an end result all the time. So, your support in not asking me where my result is, would mean a lot to me!

If you want to show your support for my work, instead of asking me that question, show me your support right here on my blog! Read the work I do have out and comment on it. Or, if you want to talk about my writing when you see me in person, go ahead and ask me about the short story. That is a very easy and wonderful way to show your support (which, as I said, is very important to me!).